Big error
» Poeltl blames himself for breakdown on final play in loss.
Jakob Poeltl shouldered the blame for the 3-pointer that sank the Spurs on Wednesday night in Oklahoma City and immediately vowed to do better next time.
“It’s a learning experience for me,” the fifth-year center said after practice Thursday.
Luguentz Dort’s buzzer beater from the corner handed the Thunder a 102-99 win and came seconds after Poeltl overplayed Al Horford on the perimeter in an attempt to break up an inbounds pass from Shai Gilgeous-alexander with 3.9 seconds left.
After Poeltl lunged at the ball, Horford dribbled twice into the key before kicking the ball to Dort, who was left wide open after Patty Mills drifted over to help with Horford.
“I put myself out of position by going for a steal-slash-foul because I knew we had one to give,” Poeltl said. “It just wasn’t an aggressive enough play on my part. I should have went into (Horford’s) body more to make sure I got the foul. As soon as I got out of position, we had to scramble, and (he) threw it into the corner.”
Mills said the breakdown began with Gilgeous-alexander lofting the ball over Dejounte Murray to Horford.
“It felt like it was in the air for a long period of time, to the extent Jakob thought maybe he could pick it off,” Mills said. “From that point on, he felt like he was beat. So did I. I was trying to foul (Horford), knowing they could take it out again before the bonus. Other than that, it was a hell of a catch by Horford and a hell of a one-dribble, rifle pass to the guy in the corner, which trumped everything else.”
Considering how hot Gilgeous-alexander had been, it was surprising that Thunder coach Mark Daigneault had the 22-year-old guard deliver the inbounds pass. Gilgeous-alexander finished with a career-high 42 points in 38 minutes.
“I was perfectly fine with the play call,” said Gilegousalexander, who hit 13 of 20 shots from the field, including 7 of 8 — 3 of 4 from 3-point range — in the second half.
Dort finished 4 of 7 from beyond the arc after entering the game shooting 31.8 percent from downtown on 5.9 attempts per outing. He sank 3 of his 4 attempts from distance in the fourth quarter.
“Hell of a shot made by someone who doesn’t really make a lot of 3s this season, but he made some very big ones in the last quarter,” Mills said.